North corp gives nod to legalise merged DDA flats

Property owners who have merged two DDA flats to form one big apartment may get a breather from the constant harassment of enforcement teams. The North Delhi Corporation has passed a proposal to regularise such flats in lieu of a one-time penalty.

The proposal was passed at a House meeting this week and will be sent to the Urban Development Ministry for a final approval.

"Thousands of flat owners have integrated two flats to accommodate the need of family members. They face harassment from junior engineers who try to nail them on charges of illegal construction. We will levy a penalty on such owners and get their buildings regularised," said leader of the House Mahender Nagpal.

If the proposal is implemented, many DDA flat owners in areas such as Rohini and Janakpuri will be able to regularise their buildings.

In such DDA flats, owners make illegal changes to combine the flats but it does not endanger the safety of the building because of which it is possible to regularise them.

The north Corporation has also decided to regularise buildings that have built extra floors without building plan sanctions, provided that the height of the building does not cross 15 metres.

Through the exercise, the corporation hopes to earn several crores revenue from regularisation fees and also remove the fear of demolition from the minds of the property owners.